Weapon Master Chapter 1206
2. Course correction------my adventure is still ahead it seems. The village was engulfed in a bright red flame.
Within the flames, the enemy cavalry ran about, cutting down the villagers trying to run away from behind-------- -------there's no way that sort of heroic fantasy-like development reserved for a 15-year-old s.p.u.n.ky hero will happen to a 25-year-old bearded peasant like me. Speaking of which, my appearance is not the same as the character I played in
I am actually alive so my hair grows as well as my beard.
I don't have a sharp tool like a razor so this face with beard I haphazardly shaved off with a knife may not look very good. I looked like a sunburnt, fine-muscled (though I don't have that much muscles to mention) man, with a beard casually tied together using a string and long black hair, peculiar to people from high grounds with strong sunlight, that reached my lower back.
That is my current appearance as a reincarnated person.
Actually I am not sunburnt, I just have a light brown skin color. I think perhaps, this skin color is rare.
I guess rather than tan, it fits under "olive skin color" that I've heard from the previous life.
My eye color is the color of olive fruit itself. A dark green pupil inside a rainbow-colored iris.
I've never had a chance to look at a decent mirror so no comment on my facial features. A man is not defined by his face, okay?
Regarding my body type, I personally wanted to become muscular, but my inherent nutritional status did not allow that.
Well, an item craftsman doesn't need muscles so it's okay.
My height is so-so. I'm not too tall or too short...I'm plain, yup. Some villagers gathered around the notice board placed in the village square.
Incidentally, the notice board was put up about five years ago.
If there was a notice board earlier than that, I would have realized the existence of j.a.panese. However, it's just a thing to pa.s.s by for farmers who can't read or write. I'm just glad they even built one. I approached the crowd and put down the vegetables I was carrying at my feet, then called out to an acquaintance. "That looks quite serious. A bad notice?" "Kariya." The son of a blacksmith who's my childhood friend said my name, and the creases between his eyebrows deepened. "It's a conscription. The soldier who came to put it up read it out loud. Apparently, a war with a neighboring country started and our feudal lord will also partic.i.p.ate." "...Uwaa..." Our feudal lord neglects the monsters in the mountain disctrict but collects taxes on the dot.
But since it's just 40% of our yield, I guess he's a benevolent lord? Domestic affair games are out of my area of expertise so I don't know.
The villagers discuss in low voices while looking at the letters they can't read written in the notice board.
They glance here from time to time and sigh. "It's regrettable, Kariya. This would have nothing to do with you if you only left the village a bit earlier." One of the few people I can call friend tapped my shoulder while smiling bitterly. "I know right," while agreeing with a light tone, I casually read the article written on the board. ―――― Our country Ticia, together with Ragion Empire, has waged war against the neighboring state Claciel... victory seems to be on our side?
Even in the game, as might be expected from its label "empire", Ragion was established to be a powerful nation.
It seems like the village must send 7 men ages 15 to 35.
So among men in their prime of life, 1 out of 3 partic.i.p.ates? I don't know whether that's a lot or few.
Meals, weapons and armors during the campaign are provided.
However, each person must be responsible for their expenses during the journey to the a.s.sembly point. Interpersonal war events also existed in
I partic.i.p.ated as logistics support only once, but it didn't feel fun so I didn't join that sort of event since then.
Since it was a production job and I entered a laid-back team with invidualistic principle, it was free from showy events. But since it's a conscription, war partic.i.p.ation means being treated as bottom E rank NPC (non-player characters).
When the time comes, it's alright to desert under enemy fire, right? I'll escape with a full-power dash.
Deserters seem to receive capital punishment, but I wonder if I can get away lying "I got separated from the main force" with a straight face? "...I'm going to meet the village chief. Ah, take the vegetables. Whichever way fate falls, I probably won't eat it any more." "You're going to partic.i.p.ate?" "Yeah. I can't talk big and say I'll become a hero but if it's running around, leave it to me." When I began to walk, the surrounding villagers made way, pulling back as if they were going to run away.
Eight years ago, since anulling my engagement with the village chief's daughter, I was treated like a tumor by my village.
My female childhood friend, who went to the town at the foot of the mountain for apprenticeship, did not return after all.
It wasn't that saddening because I knew from previous experience that she wouldn't be able to keep her words "Wait for me, okay?" I can understand her parent's decision -- rather marrying a very poor peasant, a somewhat-rich man from a town is preferrable.
I'm old enough to know better --- that's a total of 54 years old, I think?
Well, I think previous life doesn't count. My mental age should be younger as influenced by my physical appearance. Probably. The village chief was pleased with me for voluntarily signing up despite my plan to leave the village.
I told him I won't be coming back ever again even when the war is over.
While looking somewhat relieved, he handed over a small travel allowance provided by the village.
It will take time to choose other villagers who will partic.i.p.ate.
I intended to go towards the a.s.sembly point ahead of time, leisurely sightseeing along the way.
Yup, I'm treating it like a pleasure trip.
Despite the reality of the looming war, I accepted it like I'm going on an excursion. The combat abilities of a reincarnated person who took over their game character's skills are higher than the humans of this world that are treated as NPCs.
In the game, the growth limit of an NPC was B rank.
My combat rank, a crafter-type player, is also B.
I won't fall behind in combat against a normal human opponent. Ah, but it's impossible against a fellow reincarnated. If theres's a combat-type SSS rank player in the enemy side, it will end with an instant kill.
Their t.i.tle "G.o.d Slayer" isn't a joke. If it goes bad... No, don't think about bad things. That's what people call "raising flags". I said goodbye to acquaintances from when my grandparents were still alive, and I left behind the village where I was born and raised. Footnotes: 1. "... the humans of this world that are treated as NPCs (non-player characters)."
NPCs (non-player characters) - A non-player character (NPC) in a game is any character that is not controlled by a player. In video games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer via predetermined or responsive behavior. 2. "No, don't think about bad things. That's what people call 'raising flags'."
raising flags - doing a specific series of actions that may lead to a specific result, e.g. death flag, romance flag